Renments of the Fallen
by m4x70r
Summary: 2 years before Heir to The Empire, Pellaeon Meets up with Grand Admiral Thrawn. ** Because this story was written ages ago, and before i knew enough of the back story, and well before i was able to write even partially well, it will not be continued.**
1. Chapter 1

This is a made up story, im making nothing from it except some good times.

basicly i'm saying this is georges creation. a wonderful one at that.

and also, partly timothy zahns creation (this storyline at least)

so neither of them need to get pissy about this sotry. i'm merly writing it cuase their storys are the greatest to ever be told.

This is a Prequel to the Timothy Zahn's book "Heir to The Empire"

If you read this story please review it so I know some ones read it

This Story Takes Place 2 Years Before: Heir To The Empire

CHAPTER 1

The massive hull of the Star Destroyer Chimaera eclipsed the yellow dwarf star lying directly ahead. The planet Rnok floated motionless to the starboard about three hundred thousand kilometers away.

Captain Pellaeon stood on the bridge of his ship, awaiting the confirmation from the launch control. Suddenly, as if surprised by it, Pellaeon heard a the sound of a communication request; it's origin, the launch control room.

"This is the captain" Pellaeon said into his COM link.

"Sir the landing craft are ready to go and the TIE escorts have taken position. Shall we begin landing operations?" the voice came over the COM link.

Pellaeon stood there for a second, as if reconsidering his orders, but with a confidence of a general he gave the affirmative, and turned to his display screen. The green lights flashed a launch order, and then 3 little red dots moved away from the large green one in the center. Their heading, the planet Rnok. 2 squadrons of tie fighters took a flanking position behind the landing craft. Pellaeon then turned to the deck officer.

"Lieutenant, what is the ETA for the landing craft?" asked the Captain.

Lieutenant Zimmer read the displays in front of him and responded " Estimated time is 4 minutes sir"

"Good, have the pilots get to their ships, I want 4 more TIE squadrons ready to launch." Pellaeon ordered.

"Yes sir!" Zimmer shouted.

Pellaeon turned back to the display monitor then looked up out the view port at the distant group of ships, as they got smaller by the second. He knew that this was not only an easy attack, but one not even needing fighter escorts, or any on stand by, but he felt something, a hunch, and although he never usually listened to them, he did this time. Maybe he wanted to give it a try, or maybe he just had to, to settle his mind.

Four minutes later the attack begun, and as he watched with confidence, he knew he was wasting his time. There was nothing on the planet except for a few disbursed colonies. The one they were attacking, a small spaceport, and a few cargo ships. But he knew this would be good practice for his troops. It had been a long while since they ran into anything worthy of attacking, and this, although just as unworthy, was an exception. Pellaeon grew bored of hiding; he needed a fight worthy of his experience.

And suddenly, without warning, a blue streak light up the bridge as a ship came shooting out of hyperspace almost directly on top of them. Pellaeon jumped back, red lights filling every display on the bridge. He looked down at his display, 4 large red circles formed a triangular pattern to the left of the Chimaera, the ships were nebulon-b frigates.

He shouted, " Are those republic vessels?"

"Sir…I...I don't know!" Zimmer responded, obviously scared out of his wits.

It had been too long since this has happened to his crew, an enemy fleet jumping out of hyperspace mid operation on a planet. Pellaeon knew his crew was un-ready for such a challenge, but nonetheless, these new ships were indeed a threat. Maybe not their firepower, but the unpracticed crew he was commanding.

"WELL FIND OUT! NOW!" Pellaeon shouted back, a slight sense of fear is his voice. But he knew better than to show fear in front of his men.

"Yes sir, they are republic!" an unfamiliar voice came from the rear of the bridge. A young private by the name of Collins was standing in the command pit in front of his station. Pellaeon walked over to him "are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes sir, positive. I recognize their thruster frequency..."Collins said back.

"Lieutenant Zimmer, launch all fighters, attack pattern theta 8! Bring the ship around at point 2 zero. Open fire on the lead ship!"

Orders started emerging from the officers to their crew stations. The Ship itself now started moving towards the enemy fleet. Pellaeon walked over to the communications station.

"Order our attack fleet to head back, tell them not to cross the enemy's position, rather go around, the fighter escorts are to joint in the attack however." Pellaeon ordered, followed by an affirmative from the communications officer.

Pellaeon walked back to the view ports as turbo lasers began lighting up the bridge. Red shots being fired from the enemy ships and green in return from the Chimaera. A classic duel between two great forces. A Star Destroyer was indeed the stronger in this battle, but Pellaeon knew they probably had experienced crewmembers at the helm.

Not more than 2 minutes into the duel, the first frigate began to decrease speed, and its fire disappeared. Hull breach's began bursting along its port side. The ship then imploded as it decompressed. Pellaeon squinted, as he knew the ship was moments from reaching a fiery death. When the power station aboard the Frigate joined in the decompression, the overload began. Only seconds later followed by a massive explosion sending debris in every direction. The shields deflected the pieces that hit the Chimaera. However the other frigates were more vulnerable to the explosion as their deflector shields were already weakened in the attack. The closest frigate lost power as a giant piece of debris hit its main sub light engine causing a power serge to blowout the power generator. Pellaeon grew more confident as now there were only 2 frigates still attacking.

Nebulon-b frigates are escort ships; they have no room to hold fighters. Back during the time of the rebellion however their cargo holds were converted into hangars. These frigates were not converted however. These were mainly cargo escorting vessels. Their primary usage is against fighters. And they were doing a poor job at that. TIE fighters flew in oval shape patterns around the remaining frigates, ignoring the disabled one. Flying in attacking then flying out to return to attack position. So far not even one TIE Fighter had been taken out. The remaining frigates were losing shield strength now, and they knew it. The closest one started moving in front of the other one. Pellaeon recognized this move; they were preparing to ram the Chimaera. Although it wouldn't destroy it, it would greatly damage it.

Pellaeon called to the deck officer "Begin moving backwards away from the frigates, maximum speed."

"Yes sir." Zimmer responded.

Even if they were heading forward the Chimaera was no match in a race. Nebulon-b frigates are much faster, even damaged ones. But Pellaeon knew what he was doing.

Pellaeon opened a secure link to the squad leader of the TIE group.

"Private, I want your squadron to come in behind the first frigate, and attack the main sub light engine, and only the sub light engine. I want all the fighters to begin firing at the same time, I want there to be no warning for them, is that understood?" Pellaeon ordered.

"Completely, sir." The pilot said back.

This was going to be quite the show. The frigates were doing a familiar maneuver, one ship gets in front of the other and they both begin moving together. The one in front would block any fire for the rear ship, so that the rear ship can divert all power to the main engines. Then when in position, the lead ship would turn out away from the approach path and the rear ship would give full power the engines and ram right into the Target. Even at zero shields it would take a few minutes to destroy a frigate with TIE fighters, especially the small number actually out there. Pellaeon had done this only one time before, its not often a fleet will give in to ramming, most just jump into hyperspace. But these frigates were being commanded by much braver, and much stupider captains.

The TIE fighters came in around the rear of the two frigates at an increased speed, and opened fire on the lead ship, completely destroying the sub light engine and bringing the frigate to an almost full stop. The second frigate came crashing in from behind, completely destroying both ships in a spectacular explosion. The TIE fighters streamed out in all directions to get away from the blast. However one of the TIE fighters was too close to the explosion and was caught in the blast. There was a great sense of joy on the bridge as everyone felt relieved. The first battle in months, and they won by making them destroy them selves. It was truly a memorable experience for everyone.

"I want a complete damage report from all sections, and I want those fighters in immediately. Dispatch 2 shuttles with boarding parties to the remaining frigate. And I want the survivors alive." Pellaeon Ordered.

"Yes Captain, and a wonderful display of your leadership sir." Zimmer responded.

Pellaeon turned back to the view port as 2 rows of TIE fighters started heading for the ship. The remaining frigate just sat there motionless. The crew probably expected a swift destruction. But they wouldn't get it, they instead would be interrogated. This was indeed a good day for the crew of the Chimaera. Sufficient practice, and a glorious victory.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Pellaeon stood at the bridge of his ship. Outside the view ports he saw a battle raging. Star Destroyers on every side of him. Rebel cruisers mixed around between them. And in the distance, the massive yet uncompleted Death Star sat. He looked closer. The rebels were winning this battle. Off to his right he watched as a Star Destroyer collapsed in on itself, then exploded just as quickly. And again, another Star Destroyer, this time a closer one, right in front of his own ship, joined its fallen brother. Everywhere he looked, nothing but imperial losses. Then He noticed the Super Star Destroyer Executor. A glorious ship, more than 5 times the length of his own. He peered out at it, watched as it performed attack maneuvers. Then, the command tower on the Executor exploded. Pellaeon jumped. How could this be? How could such a powerful ship like that be damaged, and by the rebels of all opponents. He watched it, it slowly turned down, and started heading towards the Death Star. He watched, feeling butterfly's in his stomach. He knew what was happening, the gravity of the Death Stars massive size was pulling the disabled ship in towards it. He waited, as it got closer, he clenched his teeth. And then, it happened, it crashed into the Space Station, sending a towering pillar of fire up back toward the fleet. Twenty or so fighters were caught in the blast, he watched as they disappeared in the fire. Pellaeon was looking around quickly, looking for a sign of relief. But he found none, the rebels were winning, and he knew it. Then something completely unexpected happened, the rebels began moving back even further into the imperial fleet, what were they doing? Why would they make them selves even more easy to attack? All the rear ships began opening fire on the in bound rebel capital ships. Could it be that the rebels have just made their mistake? Could it be, that the imperials would indeed win this fight? No, without warning, the Death Star began glowing around its edges, a pure white light, then the entire fleet seemed to just pause in its place, as a shock wave ran its way across space…

"Captain?" the voice came over the intercom.

Pellaeon sat up, sweat pouring down his fore head, when he looked around, he was no longer on his bridge, no he was in his quarters. It was a dream. The same dream, the same, nightmare that had haunted him the past three years. Almost every night he witnessed again and again the fate of the Empire, the Destruction of the Death Star, and the end of both Vader and the Emperor. A loss that sent the entire imperial fleet into complete distress. Pellaeon got away with his life, his ship, his crew, but it hadn't been easy. 3 other ships joined him, and they ran, ran to the outer rim territories. And that has been where they have been hiding for three years now. Pellaeon was a Captain of a glorious ship, in a glorious empire. He was up for a promotion, he was going to get his own fleet, and he was to be an admiral. But the rebels took that away. They destroyed all he had built.

"Captain, are you there?" the voice came over the intercom again.

"Yes….I'm here." Pellaeon said back.

The words echoed in his head. "I'm here". He wasn't there; he hadn't been ever since the end of the empire. He was lost now. Lost searching for meaning, for a life worth living, but he couldn't abandon his men. They had lost too. And they relied on him to lead them to victory.

"It's 08:35 sir, you wanted to be notified when we reached our destination.?" the voice came back.

"Yes, i'm up, ill be on the bridge in 20 minutes." Pellaeon responded.

He stood up, and stretched out his arms. His back cracked from the motion. He was getting old. He wondered what the crewmates called him. He remembered the nickname he had for his old Captain back on his first assignment, "Old Rock". His Captain was a little bit strict. He was from an asteroid like planet, and wasn't a happy person. But Pellaeon was not strict, not as strict as he could have been. Like Vader was. Pellaeon lost a good friend to Vader. Captain Nedda and him attended the academy together. Nedda had been given the Hoth assignment over Pellaeon. Vader killed Nedda when he lost contact with the Millennium Falcon during a chase near the Hoth system's asteroid belt. Pellaeon always wondered, if Vader were alive today, would he still kill off good officers at every failure? With the few Good one left that is. But then again, fear was a good way to teach people to know what's expected of them; also it was a good way to get promotions. Captain Piett got his command after his commander exited hyperspace too close to the Hoth planet, alerting the rebels to their arrival. Vader killed him, and Piett got his admiral status. Piett was a horrible leader, why Vader gave him a promotion is still a question Pellaeon would like answered. Piett was in command of the Executor during the Battle of Endor. He had allowed the rebels to destroy the command tower, destroying the ship basically, losing control and letting in crash into the Death Star. A ship like that would do some good now a days. The fleet is so weak now. Pellaeons fleet at least. He had run into a fellow "survivor" of the Battle of Endor. Admiral Veers, once General Veers.He had found an unfinished Super Star Destroyer at the Imperial shipyards on Felsador VIII. Unfinished but still in working order, his crew slapped some shielding generators near the exposed hull areas, and that became his command ship. Pellaeon was asked to join him, but turned it down, knowing better than to be under command of Veers. Veers had been a General, but he was a Ground Forces General, not a fleet General. Pellaeon never did run into Veers again. But he didn't really care. He had his own fleet to worry about.

Pellaeon walked into his washroom. He rinsed his hands then his face; he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. An old, withered Captain looked back. He always felt this way after waking up. He turned on his shower and washed up. Then proceeded to get dressed. As he emerged from his Quarters, he ran into Private Collins.

"Ah good morning Captain." Collins said.

"Good morning Private, that was rather impressive yesterday, speaking out, knowing that even though you were supposed to tell your C.O. about your findings. It's good to know that you knew the difference between an emergency and a stand by order." Pellaeon lectured at the private.

"Well sir, I figured because of the urgent situation that was developing, I had no time to relay the knowledge through my C.O." Collins said back.

"Well congratulations private, ill be looking into you more now, there might even be an officer position available for you." Pellaeon said.

"Thank you sir. I'm on my way to the Galley, shall I get you some coffee before I head to the bridge?" Collins asked, now in full brown nose mode.

"No thanks private," Pellaeon said, making sure to say the privates rank, to push that brown nosing isn't well liked.

Pellaeon reached the lift, and stepped in. He pushed the button for the command deck. The lift doors slid shut as it began moving up. When it reached the bridge Pellaeon stepped out. He walked straight to the on duty commander.

"You're relieved Commander." Pellaeon said.

"Thank you sir," Commander Fridgear said," here is the Nightly report. And the Prisoners have been interrogated, that interrogation report is at the bottom sir."

The commander walked off. Probably to go to his quarters. The night shift was always hard, no activity and 9 hours of standing. Pellaeon had been distracted these past few days, not really sure what to do. He had no plans for the New Republic, he had no way of hurting their operations, and his fleet was far too small to take the Republic head on. Pellaeon grew tired of this futile gesture to continue on, to hold on to something that was dead long ago. But what can he do? Just abandon his men? His ship?

"Captain shall we enter orbit?" Lieutenant Zimmer said walking up from behind Pellaeon.

"Huh? Oh yes, enter a standard orbit." Pellaeon said back, just snapping out of a daydream. He looked out the window; it was a familiar sight, the Yarstoss System. This is where his fleet had been staging their operations from, if they can really be called operations at all. Random harassment of convoy's, raids on storage facilities. Scraping supplies off the New Republic, the Imperials had surly switched places with the Alliance. Once the Rebels were the ones stealing supplies and raiding cargo ships. Pellaeon Remembered how he felt it a weak thing to do, if a people cannot even supply them selves why even bother trying to make a force in the galaxy. But Pellaeon didn't care anymore. He wasn't in the mood to lecture him self.

"Sir we're receiving a transmission from the Surface, its from the Command Center." One of the young communications crewmembers said.

"Patch it through to the war room." Pellaeon said as he left the bridge heading for the war room.

When he entered, there was a blinking light on one of the displays, with the words "Awaiting Authorization."

Pellaeon entered his command code and the display flashed then became the image of a young Sergeant.

"Yes sergeant?" Pellaeon said, a slight sense of impatience in his voice.

"Sir, I'm not really sure how to say this, but, there is an interesting message here from the Death's Head. It's reporting that they have an admiral on board." the sergeant said.

The words didn't even seem real. Who is this admiral, and why is he on one of Pellaeons Star Destroyers.

"Has he identified himself?" Pellaeon questioned

"No sir, supposedly he's waiting for you to make contact with him" The sergeant said back, this time sounding hopeful, as if he wasn't happy with the way things were going under Pellaeon.

"Thank you sergeant, that is all" Pellaeon said as he switched the display off.

An admiral, maybe this is what Pellaeon had been waiting for, a chance to relieve himself from command, to be under someone. Pellaeon had been reluctant thus far to do so, he felt the other High-ranking officers still left were reckless, using the fleets under their command for their own gain, and Pellaeon wasn't about to assist someone's lust for power. Yet at the same time he was tired, and needed a rest from this never ending task.

Pellaeon set the display to transmit to the Star Destroyer "Death's Head". He waited a few moments and the image of a middle-aged petty officer appeared.

"Captain Pellaeon, we've been expecting your message, I'll patch you through to the admiral" the officer said.

Pellaeon waited, unsure of what to expect, another admiral. Pellaeon had considered naming himself an admiral; he was going to be promoted just before the Loss at Endor.

But he remained a captain, a captain in command of a fleet.

The image flickered, and the appearance of a human figure, sitting in a dimly lit room stared back at him.

"Ah the illustrious Captain Pellaeon." the strange voice said. The voice was strong, confident, but Pellaeon did not recognize it as someone he had known. He wondered if maybe this was just a simple person who had killed an admiral, and took his suit, and just acted like he was legit.

"Who might I ask, is this?" Pellaeon ordered.

The figure leaned forward, revealing himself to be a well-built person. His skin a pale blue, His hair jet-black, and his eyes, his eyes were the color of blood, glowing. Pellaeon then noticed this person was wearing a white uniform. White was only worn by the highest-ranking officers in the imperial navy. Grand Admiral's mostly, a few Moff's had worn them, but for the most part just Grand Admirals. Pellaeon was in shock, he knew that for someone to pull off a fake Admiral Status was hard enough but to try a Grand Admiral, that was suicide. Pellaeon had read that the Emperor wasn't fond of non-humans, why would he appoint an alien the rank of Grand Admiral.

"My name is Thrawn, captain. I have just been reading here about your fleets history for the past 3 years." Thrawn said with a slight sense of being impressed.

"I'm afraid I have never heard of you, sir." Pellaeon said, reluctant to even say sir, still doubtful of this person.

"Oh I'm not surprised Captain, I've been away in the unknown sector for almost 4 years. You can imagine my shock when I discovered the Empire had been destroyed and the Rebels now control the galaxy. Lucky for me my return trajectory brought me to your Star Destroyer Death's Head. I was unwilling to believe it at first, and so was my crew. You crew was reluctant to believe that I was a real admiral. I'm sure you still have your doubts." Thrawn said.

"It's just, the Emperor, well he never liked," Pellaeon began, but paused, fearing that he might insult the admiral.

"Aliens? Yes, that's true, but I suppose I impressed him far beyond what he had expected from me. I always wondered, had I been human, would he have promoted me quicker? Or higher? But that's not important. I'd like your ship to meet me here, we're at Barkura, how long will it take your ship to arrive here?" Thrawn asked.

Pellaeon still didn't believe this was a real admiral, but the time it would take them to reach Thrawn would be sufficient enough time to research the origin of this man.

"We can make it there within the hour." Pellaeon said.

"Good then I'll be expected you soon, end transmission" Thrawn said as the screen turned black.

Pellaeon reached over and took a seat in at one of the many chairs around the conference table. The room was moderately lit. Pellaeon sat there for a moment, questioning what was happening, was this a good thing or bad, he was going to get his break, but lose his command. Pellaeon reached down to his COM link and turned it on.

"Lieutenant, set course for the Barkura system." Pellaeon ordered.

"Yes sir," the words came back slightly muffled.

Pellaeon sat there for a few more moments then leaned forward and switched on the display again. He searched the imperial directory, passing endless numbers of names in a bright red font with the letters K.I.A. next to them, the ones who died at The Battle of Endor. Suddenly, he saw it, Thrawn, in a green font, meaning he was not at the Battle of Endor, and he was not dead. At least not according to these records. He opened the Profile for the Admiral, and saw the words "Grand Admiral" listed before his name. The Photo matched the man he was talking to. This was indeed the real thing. Pellaeon turned and looked out the window, letting his mind drift. The stars became white streaks as the ship entered hyperspace.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Pellaeon stood on the bridge, staring out into the void of Hyperspace. Outside the view ports a blue cylinder of blue light streamed past the ship. Pellaeon was indeed looking forward to meeting Thrawn. He had finished reading his profile. The Emperor had chosen well. Thrawn was an excellent leader indeed. He had hundreds of successful campaigns against the Alliance. During the search for the Rebel base after the battle of Yavin he assisted in many large attacks against countless Rebel strong holds. Also was helpful in the prevention of the experimental TIE defender from falling into Alliance hands. He was a vice admiral at the time, but quickly earned a promotion after once again preventing Imperial technology from falling to the rebels, this time a prototype clocking device, one that could not only make it invisible to sensors, but also the naked eye. The Emperor promoted Thrawn to grand admiral, the 13th at the time. Only the most excelling officers were ever granted such an honor. Just a month before the Battle of Endor Thrawn was sent to the unknown sector for a 3-year mission, the nature of which is still uncertain.

The ship rattled as it began it's decent from hyperspace. Out side the stars turned from blue light into white streaks, then into little pinpricks on the black back drop of space. Ahead the planet Barkura became more visible. Although no longer at light speed, the ship was still moving fast toward the planet. The planet became a large wall in the view ports taking up most of the view. 5 little gray wedges could be seen orbiting the planet. One of them was the Death's Head, one of Pellaeons. The other 4 were unknown; those must have been Thrawns fleet. He looked closer, the 4 ships consisted of 1 interdictor cruiser, 2 Imperial class Star Destroyers, and 1 Victory Class Star Destroyer. It had been a long time since Pellaeon had seen a Victory class Star Destroyer in person, they were old ships, dating back to the time of the Old Republic, but they were not weak ships, just not as useful as the larger and more powerful Imperial class Star Destroyers.

As soon as the Chimaera came in range, Thrawns ship hailed them.

The viewer flickered and the image of one of Thrawns communication officers appeared.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn is awaiting your arrival aboard his ship Captain, shall we dispatch a shuttle?" the unfamiliar face asked.

"No, that's quite alright, I'll take one of my shuttles over." Pellaeon said.

Pellaeon started down to the main launch hangar. He had expected this much from an admiral, making the less ranking officer go to him. But that was all right; Pellaeon had one of his shuttles already prepped for launch. As soon as Pellaeon was aboard the shuttle took off. The ride was quick a mere 3 kilometers away only took about 3 minutes at maximum sublight speed. When the ship landed, Pellaeon expected an empty hangar bay, but was surprised when he saw 2 rows of Storm Trooper and 1 row of mid ranking Petty Officers awaiting him. And of course, standing front and center was Grand Admiral Thrawn.

"Ah welcome aboard Captain. It is good to finally meet you" Thrawn said with much enthusiasm. Thrawn extended his arm and shook Pellaeons hand.

It was indeed a strange event to have a higher-ranking officer shake the hand of a simple Captain, but perhaps he was just glad to be among some imperials he hadn't meet yet. Being cooped up with the same crew for 4 years must be hard, but Pellaeon knew all about that. To be truthful, Pellaeon was glad to meet Thrawn too.

"Yes admiral, it is good to meet you as well." Pellaeon said, not really unsure what to say to a man such as Thrawn.

"There is much business to attend to. What with the rebellion in control of the galaxy now." Thrawn said.

"Well sir, they no longer call them selves the Rebellion, they are now the New Republic." Pellaeon said, correcting the admiral. Thrawn stared at Pellaeon. It seemed an eternity before he responded

"Well I don't consider them such a thing. The Republic is dead, the Empire is the true ruler of this galaxy, and although them seem in control, they are still a simple rebellion against us." Thrawn said back, snapping at Pellaeon almost but still emotionless.

"Yes sir." Pellaeon said, feeling like a private who had just talked back to his commanding officer. They were heading to the conference room on that level. Once they reached it, Thrawn continued.

"But it's all a matter of opinion. My ship is quite under supplied. I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to command your ship from now on. You'll remain as captain, but I'll have to transfer a small percentage of my current bridge crew to your ship. Have you set up a central command yet?" Thrawn asked. Pellaeon was still focusing on the fact that Thrawn had just invited himself to the Chimaera.

"Yes sir I have. It's on Yarstoss. But I consider the Chimaera the real central command." Pellaeon said, hesitating long enough to show his reluctance of Thrawn moving in.

"I gather you don't want me on your ship?" Thrawn said, a rather snapping tone in his voice.

"Well, no sir, it's not my place to-" Pellaeon began.

"It's quite alright Captain, but it's not up for discussion. As I see it, the Empire might be in ruins, but I am still your superior officer. But do not worry, after reading your profile from the past 3 years out here, I'm greatly impressed with your leadership abilities. I intend to keep you in the highest respect and to keep you as second in command over all operations. The first thing that we must do is devise an appropriate course of action." Thrawn said. The events were going rather quickly here, but Pellaeon was quick, and understood exactly what the admiral was doing.

"I've been doing a lot of reading recently, analyzing the things done during my absence. The battle of Endor in particular. A very interesting defeat I would say. I'm still at a loss of how we managed to lose so many ships in so little time, to such a small fleet. Not to mention the Death's Stars presence. I really can't understand it. Well you were there, what are your thoughts on the subject?" Thrawn asked.

"I'm not really sure what you mean Admiral." Pellaeon said. Not knowing if Thrawn was accusing him, or just simply looking for a discussion.

"Well, what do you think was the major cause of the defeat? I certainly can't get it from these records. I see the list of ships present. It was almost 3 to 1 in the matter of capital ships. With my experience, a battle where we out number the rebels like that is over before it begins. The fighter balance was even higher, an 8 to 3 ratio. Plus the Death Star itself. Now it says the Death Star used its super laser against 3 Rebel cruisers. It's almost as if, randomly, out of no where the Empire forgot how to fight. So I'm asking, you, Captain, what happened? You were there, in command of a ship." Thrawn said, sounding even more accusing than before.

"Well sir, to my knowledge, the Emperor had planned on destroying the rebels with the Death Star alone. All the fighters we had out there were simple TIE fighters and TIE interceptors. We had at least 3 squadrons of TIE defenders on stand by. But were ordered not to launch them." Pellaeon said back, trying to keep to tone of annoyance out of his voice.

"Under whose orders?" Thrawn asked.

"The Admiral in charge of the battle, Admiral Piett." Pellaeon answered.

"Piett? He was in command? He wasn't even a trained admiral, he had Vader to thank for his promotion!" Thrawn sat back, putting his finger to his chin. His eyes just stared at the floor. They seemed to never blink.

"Tell me more" Thrawn said.

"Well the way it happened, was the Emperor wanted to set a trap for the Rebels. He let the Rebels capture the information on the construction site." Pellaeon said, still with more to say but was interrupted.

"WHAT?" Thrawn said, completely in shock. He looked as if he was going to jump out of his uniform.

"Interesting." Thrawn said. Once again emotionless.

"Well the idea was to trick the Rebels into taking their entire fleet to Endor and to find the Death Star operational. The Imperial fleet was sent to the far side of the moon, and when we detected the Rebels entering the system we came up right behind them." Pellaeon said.

"Ah, a very insightful plan. The Emperors?" Thrawn questioned.

"Yes." Pellaeon answered.

"Then why the defeat? The Rebels, facing the Death Star and an entire Imperial fleet directly behind them." Thrawn asked.

"Well our orders were to not attack, but to rather just prevent them from escaping into hyperspace. Frankly I think had we should have just let them go. That or been allowed to destroy them. But the orders came from above, the highest, the Emperor himself. At one point during the battle, the Rebels started attacking the Star Destroyers, hiding from the Death Stars superlaser." Pellaeon explained, Thrawn merely sat there staring at the floor. "Eventually the Rebels on the surface took out the Death Star Shield Generator. At which point the Alliance fighters in the space battle directed their assault on the Death Star. We had already lost most of our TIE fighters, and were only able to send a few after the Rebel fighters. The Rebels flew down the uncompleted super structure of the Death Star and flew right into the core, threw a few proton torpedos at it. The effect of which destroyed the station. When all that was happening, the Rebels also managed to take out the Executor, by destroying the bridge and sending it crashing into the Death Star. When the Death Star it self blew up, I Hailed the three closest ships to mine, and we left. After the battle, many of the remaining commanders at the various strongholds throughout the Empire fought over control. The 11 Grand Admirals did the most fighting. We also got news that the Rebels even captured two of our Star Destroyers after the Death Star was destroyed and everyone else had left the scene." Pellaeon explained.

"That was more than a defeat, it was slaughter. It still doesn't explain why we lost. But I suppose I'll have to do more thinking on the subject. But yes, back to what we do now. One of the other things I came across in the Death Head's database, a planet. Vader and the Emperor visited. I find it interesting that they would go there, and more than once at that, without ever taking control of it. I'd like to go there immediately." Thrawn said.

"Yes sir, we going to use the Chimaera for this trip?" Pellaeon asked.

"Yes I believe that would be the best thing to do. I'll send all my ships to Yarstoss, and the Death's Head as well. After we meet them there we'll do more planning." Thrawn said.

"What's the name of the planet we're going to?" Pellaeon asked.

" I believe it's called Honoghr. Very out of the way from know traveled space. The records I did find on it were kept pretty short and to the point. I believe the Emperor and Vader may have a secret on this planet." Thrawn said.

"Well then I suppose we should get underway." Pellaeon said.

They both returned to the Chimera. Pellaeon introduced Thrawn to his crew. They we are very excited to have a great leader like a Grand Admiral among them. About one hour past before the Death's Head and the Admirals 4 ships left for Yarstoss. After which the Chimaera left for this unknown world in the deeps of the Outer Rim sector. What were they going to find on this planet. And why did the Admiral find it so important to go all the way out there to find out? It was going to take some getting used to. The Admiral seemed to have a sneaky way of doing things. But Pellaeon trusted in him. He didn't get the status of Grand Admiral by failing. No, if this was how he commanded his troops, then he knew exactly what he was doing.


	4. Chapter 4

They were in Hyperspace for hours. This planet was on the other side of the galaxy. Pellaeon stood at the front of the bridge. Thrawn had placed a command chair near the middle of the bridge. Pellaeon thought it was a sign of weakness if an admiral couldn't even stand for long periods of time. But Pellaeon had read in Thrawns back round profile that he had always had a chair on his bridge. Something he was used to by now. Pellaeon stared out at the blue space streaming by the ship. He turned a little to his right. Thrawn was reading a tactical display on his chairs readout monitor. Pellaeon turned back, looking around outside the ship.

"A question captain?" Thrawn asked, not even taking is eyes off the display. Pellaeon turned and looked at Thrawn.

"No sir, I was merely glancing around. What is it you're reading?" Pellaeon asked.

"The report from the recent encounter you had with the 4 rebel frigates. Very impressive." Thrawn said with his eyes still on the display. Pellaeon noticed every time the Admiral called them rebels. He had become so used to them being known as the New Republic it was strange to here Thrawn refer to them as that.

"Glad you think so sir. I suppose it was the prior experience I've had with that maneuver." Pellaeon said. Although making sure not to express it through his voice, he was priding himself that an Admiral such as Thrawn would compliment him on his tactics. Pellaeon waited a few moments for Thrawn to speak again. But he didn't. Pellaeon turned back to the view port just in time to see the space outside changing from the ship's decent from Hyperspace. The scenery ahead was amazing. A small planet. Brown with white clouds, and the occasional blue green ocean. The backdrop of space was a reddish nebula with purple rims. Certainly this system was loaded with radiation, the nebula was a class-x nebula. One created by a Red Giant star going supernova. Pellaeon looked to his right and saw the Star in this system. It was a basic Yellow star. As the Chimaera got closer to the planet, Pellaeon noticed the surface was a total wasteland.

"Do a sensor sweep, I want to know if there are any settlements down there." Pellaeon ordered to the new deck officer. Thrawn had replaced Mr. Zimmer with a chubby Commander named Alkar.

"Calm down captain, there is, just be patient." Thrawn said.

"How can you be sure?" Pellaeon questioned. He quickly kicked himself for it. But didn't seem to offend Thrawn with his comment.

"Trust me Captain" Thrawn said, getting up from his chair, " the emperor certainly wouldn't keep a secret of a deserted planet."

"Well where do you suppose he kept this secret?' Pellaeon asked.

Thrawn was doing a scan of the planet on his tactical display. It beeped at him.

"There." Thrawn said pointing at a small yellow circle on his display. Pellaeon leaned over and looked closer at it.

"A city? On this planet?" Pellaeon asked.

"Get 3 shuttles ready, I want a squad of Storm Troopers on each." Thrawn ordered.

"Sir, I don't think we should send so many down there, it might be dangerous," Pellaeon said "and we can't afford to lose any-"

"Well we certainly can't go down there alone, now can we?" Thrawn asked, but wasn't really asking a question, just stated the obvious.

"We, sir?" Pellaeon asked back.

"Yes captain, you and I" Thrawn said. Thrawn began heading off the bridge.

"You coming?" Thrawn asked Pellaeon.

"Yes sir." Pellaeon said. This was really quite confusing. Normally the Commanders stayed on the ship while a dispatched team investigates the surface. Pellaeon hoped Thrawn was doing the right, no, the smart thing this time.

Five minutes later the 3 Lambda class shuttles took off from the landing bay of the Star Destroyer. The ride was routine and very smooth. But Pellaeon was nervous. This was an uncharted planet. And they were landing right in the middle of a city.

When the shuttles passed beneath the clouds Pellaeon could see some large structures outside of his view port. The buildings looked frail and poorly designed. This was no advanced civilization. Then Pellaeon noticed movement down near a town square looking area. There were Humanoid figures moving about.The shuttle made a loud bang as it touched down. Steam was released from the pressure tubes and the ramp slowly slid down. Thrawn sent two storm troopers outside first, and then followed, signaling for Pellaeon to stay close. As they walked outside the ship. Pellaeon was shocked to see a large crowd of Grey aliens in a greeting formation.

"Well this is quite unexpected wouldn't you say?" Thrawn asked with a grin on his face.

"Quite Admiral, Quite unexpected." Pellaeon said, nervously looking around.

The Aliens had extruding jaws with little ridges of sharp teeth sticking out. Their eyes were black as space, and just seemed to sink into their faces.

A small group of the strange aliens walked towards them.

"Welcome lord Thrawn, we are pleased by your return to us." One of the aliens said.

Pellaeon almost jumped.

"What!!??" Pellaeon said, shocked out of his wits. A large smile appeared on Thrawns face.

"Do not be surprised, I have been here before. I just didn't think it was necessary to tell you in front of your bridge crew." Thrawn said, it almost looked as if he was going to laugh.

"What do you mean!??" Pellaeon franticly questioned.

"Think of it as a test, a test of your acceptance to my leadership. I was half expecting you to question our reason to fly this far just to investigate. But as a man who obviously knows his boundaries, you didn't, congratulations." Thrawn said still smiling.

"I don't understand. Who are these people? And why couldn't you tell me in your chamber or something?" Pellaeon asked. Completely filled with anger, trying as hard as he could to not let it be known in his voice.

"I for one wasn't even sure if these people were still here. I had hopes they were and I suppose I was correct." Thrawn said, then he leaned slightly toward Pellaeon and whispered, " I have some things to do down here, why don't you head back for the ship."

This was so frustrating. He had kept information from Pellaeon; he insulted him, and now was ordering him back to the ship. He stood there for a few moments staring at the Admiral. He gathered his thoughts and finally managed to leak out a response.

"Yes, sir." Pellaeon said. He boarded the shuttle and decided to sit in the cockpit. He couldn't show his anger in front of his Storm Troopers back in the cabin. As the shuttle took off he began questioning some pretty heavy thoughts. He had considered leaving Thrawn on that Planet and secretly ordering his other two shuttles back. But it was stupid. First he needed to know why Thrawn had put on such a big show about a planet he already knew about, and had visited.

When the shuttle returned to the Chimaera Pellaeon went to Thrawns personal chambers and waited for him there. The room was very dim. Candles were lit along the corners. Pellaeon looked around. There were paintings on the walls. As Pellaeon eyes became adjusted to the light, he noticed there were more than just paintings there were all types of art, from all types of cultures. It was a good hour before Thrawn returned. When he finally walked into his quarters, Pellaeon stood up.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Pellaeon said, finally expressing his anger.

"Captain, I understand your position. But what I did was necessary; I had to know what kind of person you were. See I've met up with a few captains in my day, when dealing with a higher ranking Officer on their ship, they go crazy, asking questions to every move. Here you proved that your questions were only the necessary ones, such as landing on an unknown planet," Thrawn said.

"But it wasn't and unknown planet, you knew all about it, why the games!??" Pellaeon questioned.

"I just told you, I needed to know what kind of person you were. Relax Captain; it was the first and only test on you. From now on it will be different. I won't keep such knowledge from you, not important information anyway. This was a simple test. Now get over it." Thrawn said as he sat down in his command chair. Pellaeon was furious. Thrawn was certainly making this appear like he had been in command all these years. But Pellaeon knew deep in the back of his mind that all Admirals are hard to get along with.

"Who are these people?" Pellaeon finally questioned again.

"Ah, these are the Noghri. A wonderful race of warriors. In fact, my personal body guard Rukh has been standing behind you this whole time." Thrawn said with a slight smile on his face. Pellaeon jumped around and just as Thrawn has said, there was a Noghri, this one was even more intimidating than the others his eyes stared into Pellaeon.

"Whoa, when the hell did he get on board!??" Pellaeon said, embarrassed that he could have been killed that easily by one of these primitive beings.

"When I first came on board. They are excellent hunters. They can move in and move out without being detected. He went with me on my mission to the unknown sector." Thrawn explained.

"When did you first meet up with the… what are they?" Pellaeon said, still looking at Rukh.

"Ah yes a very long time ago. When I had proven myself worthy of the Emperor, Vader had brought me to this Planet, and instructed them to follow my orders as they followed his." Thrawn said.

"And why did they follow Vader?" Pellaeon said, starting to become nervous as Rukh just simply stared at him.

"Rukh, leave us." Thrawn said, noticing the Captains nervousness.

Rukh left the room just as ordered, as a child listening to its parent.

" Well the story of these people is interesting. It seems long ago, the Rebels were engaged in a Duel with an Imperial ship in orbit of this planet. How either of them found this place is beyond my knowledge, but in the end the Rebel ship crashed into the surface, leaking toxic chemicals into the atmosphere and destroying a large portion of the plant life, and also a large amount of the Noghri people. Vader came to them and helped them in their struggle. He gave them food and shelter, and for that they devoted their lives to him and His Emperor, our Emperor. Vader and the Emperor used them as assassins and because of it, they kept them a secret. They were used to capture a large amount of Rebels during the Time before the Battle of Endor. When Vader brought me here, he had said his Affairs with the Rebels would prevent him from being the Caretaker of the Noghri people anymore, almost as if he knew he was going to die at the Battle of Endor. Well soon after I was given my assignment to the unknown sector, and promised I would once again return the Noghri, so they sent Rukh along with me. Are you familiar with the Wookie life debt?" Thrawn asked.

"Yes sir I am" Pellaeon responded.

"Well the Noghri make the Wookie life debt look like child's play. These people are devoted to me, and the Empire. So that is why the first thing I did when I returned, was to see that these people are aware of my return, I'm sure we will have many assignments for them in the future." Thrawn said.

Pellaeon was still angered about Thrawns deceit. It was uncalled for. It would take some time to get over it.

"That is interesting sir, what are your plans now?" Pellaeon asked.

"Well first things first, we need a larger fleet. I'd like to make contact with another group of Imperials, see if maybe they would like to join us. Also I'd like to dispatch a task force to a Rebel stronghold and steal whatever information they have on us. I doubt they know of my existence, but you never know." Thrawn said. "I want to begin searching the data base for any viable candidates who might be of use to us, and then we will go out and find them. I want to get back to Yarstoss immediately, leave me I need time to think." Thrawn said.

Pellaeon saluted then left the room. Out side the door Rukh stood silently guarding the entrance to his masters quarters. The crewmen who walked by only looked at him then turned away, perhaps fearful of his stare, perhaps they didn't mind he was there.

Only 10 minutes later the ship left orbit of the Noghri world and headed back to the Yarstoss system. Thrawn was a strange man, quiet, didn't blabber about how great he was, like all the other admirals Pellaeon had met in his day. But at the same time his quietness was what Pellaeon was angry about, to test Pellaeon like that, was frustrating and now, Pellaeon would constantly feel like he had to question Thrawns motives, his reasoning, his trust.


	5. Chapter 5

Pellaeon was in his thinking spot, or so he began calling it, a personnel walkway 4 decks below the bridge, with 7 triangular view ports facing out, to the front of the ship. No one ever used it, except for Pellaeon. He walked back and forth, every step filled with the anger of a Rankor.

'Who does Thrawn think he is? How dare he play me like that!!' Pellaeon said to himself over and over. The Grand Admiral was sure as hell not welcome here anymore. Pellaeon looked straight out into Hyperspace. He always caught himself doing it. On the bridge, in his quarters, and here. There was something soothing about it. The textures, the light, the closest thing to meditation Pellaeon ever did. These times were dark, and filled with betrayal. Every Imperial Commander out there was in it for his own gain, for greed, and power. Pellaeon believed himself to be the only one who was in it for the good of the Empire. And Thrawn. What were Thrawns intentions? He wants to rally the remaining forces, and to command them to what? Certainly not victory, no that had been lost long ago. Coruscant was lost not, completely overtaken by the New Republic. This galaxy was a political domain, as well as a tactical. Wars seem to be raging constantly, as constant as the force itself. Pellaeon still knew little about the force, but it had served great people. The Jedi were great, on the wrong side, but great nonetheless. And the Emperor, he was the greatest of them all, the greatest on all fields. A great leader, a great Jedi, a great politician. And in the end he was still driven by greed, by lust for power. It always destroyed great people. And really what good would fighting the Republic gain us? The Imperials have been out of the political playing field for years now. The planets controlled by us were only inhabited by us. No people follow us, nothing except a militia. Pellaeon stared deeply into the swirl of Hyperspace. The word militia rang in his ear. Is it this really what we have fallen to? A great officer Pellaeon was, but in the end, he only held himself this high. And Thrawn, his place had yet to be seen.

With a final glance out the view port, Pellaeon turned on his heel and left the walkway.

Pellaeon hadn't been sleeping well the past few weeks. He had considered going down to sickbay and ordering a sanative. He waited on the bridge for Thrawn to issue his next orders. In the meantime he had taken it upon himself to give the go ahead for re-supply from the command center down on the surface. He looked at his tactical readout, 4 cargo ships were already on their way, with 2 shuttles behind them. He heard footsteps entering the bridge, he had been good at identifying his officer's footsteps, each walked differently, but these were unfamiliar. He turned and saw one of Thrawns personnel arriving late for his duty shift.

"You there, sergeant!" Pellaeon said.

"Yes sir!" The young man said, he straightened up, and saluted.

"You're late, what explanation do you have for this?" Pellaeon said. It had been a long while since he ripped into one of the bridge crew for being 2 minutes late. But this was one of Thrawns crewmembers; it was necessary to let them know who the boss was.

"Sorry sir, I have no viable excuse for my tardiness. My sleeping habits are the cause, forgive me sir, it will not happen again!" The sergeant said. The response was indeed interesting. He took the blame and said himself he had no excuse for being late. Pellaeon was shocked to say the least. He almost stood there with a dumbfound look on his face but quickly responded.

"Well it had better not happen again, or you will be reprimanded, is that clear?" Pellaeon said back, still amazed how Thrawn kept his men in line. , even when he wasn't present.

"Sir yes sir!" The sergeant said saluted then scuttled to his post.

Pellaeon strolled back to the front of the bridge. He looked about; half the crew was of Thrawns staff, and the other half his own. Why he called them "Thrawns" was beyond him, they were imperials, they were on his side, or were they. Pellaeon still wasn't sure if he really liked Thrawn. His intentional deceit had seared deep into Pellaeon. The was no really reason he needed to do it. Sure he says he was testing Pellaeon, maybe perhaps he was merely making an example of Pellaeon. Showing Pellaeon who the boss was.

He didn't even hear the Admiral enter the bridge, but he did hear him take his seat.

Pellaeon quickly turned around and saw the Admiral seated at his command chair, reading the nightly report.

"Good morning Admiral." Pellaeon said.

"Good morning Captain, I see you ordered a re-supply, very good. Where is the Deaths Head? I don't see it in orbit?" Thrawn asked.

"The Death's Head was stationed to patrol the Norak sector, it probably returned there." Pellaeon said back.

"Ah I see, well I suppose that will do. After the re-supply ships have finished, I want to hold a briefing for all the department heads in the War Room." Thrawn said, now taking his eyes off his display to look at Pellaeon.

"Yes sir, have you decided a proper course of action?" Pellaeon asked.

"I have indeed Captain." Thrawn said.

The re-supply ships were quick in their tasks and were completed in less than 20 minutes. The briefing had not started yet, only 3 of the department heads had arrived and Thrawn and Pellaeon were seated at the front of the conference table.

"Well I suppose we can begin without them," Thrawn said.

"Are you sure that's wise sir?" Pellaeon asked.

"They are late, and I do not tolerate tardiness." Thrawn snapped back.

He certainly did not tolerate tardiness; he had trained his bridge crew on it well.

Thrawn got up and walked over to the door leading into the room. He switched the keypad and locked the door.

"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you" Thrawn said signaling to the rest of the Head Staff. " You three can fill the others in after the meeting."

Pellaeon had never done that before, the staff leads were pricks if anything, they thought the ship would stop and wait for them. Thrawn proved them wrong.

"I have made a plan, after much thinking and much research, I have decided to locate this man." Thrawn switch on the briefing monitor.

Pellaeon quickly recognized the man. It was General Veers.

"He is one of the remaining commanders of a reasonable Imperial fleet, my plans are simple, we locate him, and discuss a merger." Thrawn said.

'A merger?' this is now commercial business, we were not invested in some form of trading and need to merge with him. This is ridiculous.Pellaeon thought to himself.

" I though he was dead sir." One of the department heads spoke up." I mean, I thought he was stationed aboard the Executor."

Pellaeon looked up, it was true he was stationed aboard the Executor, but he had-

'He had not been on the bridge when it was disabled" Thrawn said, the very same words ready to exit Pellaeons mouth " when he discovered the bridge had been taken out he ordered as many of his men to board the shuttles in the Hangar, and they left the ship and headed for the nearest Star Destroyer. He now commands a fleet in the Farfin Sector, consisting of 7 Imperial Class Star Destroyers and 1 half constructed Super Class Star Destroyer." Thrawn said.

Pellaeon thought to himself ' great, Veers of all the people out there Thrawn had chosen Veers, that man was a pompous ignorant sonofabitch.

"How do you plan to sway him to our side sir?" another of the Staff heads asked.

"Well it's simple, we take 1 of our ships to meet him, we discuss it, I am a higher ranking officer, from that we will determine how to do it." Thrawn said.

"Begging your pardon sir, he might not be happy to see us. These days a lot of the remaining commanders are in it for themselves, and aren't quick to turn over their command. " The Staff Head responded, throwing a quick glance at Pellaeon.

"Yes I am aware of that, no worry, that is what we're going to find out isn't it?" Thrawn said " dismissed, I will inform you the rest later, we have much preparation to do."

And with that the meeting was over. Pellaeon stood up and waited for the Department Heads to leave the room, out side the 6 other Staff Heads who had just missed the meeting were waiting, and begun asking the others about the meeting.

"Sir I don't think it's wise to hunt down remaining Imperials and ask them to just give up their command.' Pellaeon said.

"Do not worry Captain, I have met Maximillian Veers before, he is rude, but intelligent. We will see what happens when it happens." Thrawn said, and with that was on his way out of the room.

"May I join you in your quarters sir, I do have matters to discuss." Pellaeon asked.

"Certainly Captain." Thrawn said.

Thrawn and Pellaeon walked to Thrawns Command Chamber. When they entered, it was still a very dim gloomy room. Pellaeon looked to the wall and saw new paintings, they weren't even real they were Holo-Paintings. He recognized the artwork as Huttese.

"That's a Hutt painting right?" Pellaeon asked.

"No, it's a painting from Nal Hutta. I've been studying it a lot recently, Veers was from Nal Hutta. I've found that studying artwork from my enemies origin makes it easier to know what type of person he is, and thus what kind of commander he is." Thrawn said.

"So, Veers is our enemy?" Pellaeon asked.

Thrawn sat there, and though about the question.

"Most definitely, we don't know him, or what his reasons for assuming command of a fleet are. I do believe he is a good General, but not a good Fleet leader." Thrawn said.

That was the very same though Pellaeon had on Veers.

"What did you want to talk about?" Thrawn asked.

"Well sir, I have to know, are we going to fight Veers? Or just talk with him?"Pellaeon asked.

"Well we're going to talk with him, and if he makes it necessary to fight him, then we will." Thrawn answered.

"Yes but just sending the Chimaera .Is that a wise thing to do?" Pellaeon asked.

"You have no trust in me do you Captain?" Thrawn asked, staring into Pellaeons eyes.

"No sir, not really. I don't know you, and you did purposely deceive me back on the Noghri home world." Pellaeon said.

"Deceive? That's what you think it was? Look I've already told you, it was a test, a simple way to discover what kind of man you are. I had to develop a trust in your loyalty, I wanted to know weather or not your loyalties lay in yourself, or in the Empire." Thrawn said.

"Why didn't you just look at some artwork from my home world?" Pellaeon asked.

"Are you my enemy?" Thrawn asked back.

And with that Pellaeon decided it was just the Admirals way of doing things. It had angered Pellaeon because it was unnecessary in his eyes, but the truth was they didn't trust each other yet, it would take time.

"Well then, I think I'll return to the bridge. Good day Admiral." Pellaeon said as he left Thrawns quarters.

The next day the Star Destroyer Chimaera left Yarstoss for the Farfin sector.


	6. Chapter 6

After 2 days in hyperspace the Chimaera finally reached the primary system in the Farfin sector, Derilliem III. Pellaeon has the habit of always being awake when the ship exits hyperspace; he finds it very unsettling to let any junior officer be in command if they just happen to stumble upon a Republic fleet. Pellaeon woke up just minutes before they reached their destination and immediately went to the bridge. He also always finds himself standing at the front staring out the same window, the second windows left of the middle one. He ordered a scan of the system to see if any ships were in the area.

"Yes sir, it will take about 10 to 15 minutes to finish sir." One of the Ensigns of the pit crew said.

Pellaeon didn't hear Thrawn enter the bridge, but instead noticed his reflection in the view port.

"We have begun a sensor sweep of the system," Pellaeon said turning to face his superior.

"Very good." Thrawn said taking a seat at his command chair. Pellaeon took a deep breath, he had been upset ever since Thrawn had lied to him, but Thrawn insisted that it was on good terms, and Pellaeon knew if he didn't finish it, they would be very un-able to work together.

"Sir I want to apologize for my recent behavior, I have not been myself lately." Pellaeon said, feeling embarrassed to admit is fault.

"I completely understand Captain, your apology is accepted." Thrawn said a slight smile on his face.

"Sir's, the scan is not complete but we have detected a Super Class Star Destroyer in orbit of Derilliem V, there are no other ships near it." The same Ensign as before said.

"Set a course for intercept, maximum sublight speed," Thrawn said, now heading towards the Communications station, " And you, contact them immediately, find out whose in command over there."

"Sir I'm pretty sure that Veers is with them, this scan shows that ship to match his flagship the Violator." Pellaeon said following behind Thrawn closely.

"Yes I'm sure you are correct, but then again that is a command ship. It is most unusual to find it alone, without a fleet." Thrawn said.

Pellaeon agreed, a formidable commander would never send a ship like that anywhere alone. They have poor maneuvering abilities and slow targeting speeds. Normally it wise to have 2 regular capital ships flank a command ship, and then force the target ships into the targeting direction of the command vessel. Also to have support against high maneuvering vessels. A good leader can take on a lone Super Star Destroyer with 3 medium class Capital ships, like Mon Calamari Cruisers. Pellaeon had seen it done once before on his first assignment as Captain on the Chimaera. They had been ordered to escort a recently completed Super Star Destroyer away from the Orbital Construction site and bring it to Coruscant. They had just exited hyperspace and were on their way to the ship. They were still 10 minutes away when 3 Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers exited Hyperspace on the far side of their current course. The Captain of the Super Star Destroyer was advised by Pellaeon not to in-gage the Attacking Rebels, but to instead remain within the Turbo laser Fire from the Orbital Platform. The Captain Refused, wishing for a maiden voyage victory. He Left the Protection of the Orbiting docks and engaged the 3 Rebel ships. He obviously didn't realize the maneuverability of the Cruisers and was unable to harm them with his ship's Turbo lasers. The Rebels Destroyed the Super Star Destroyers Main Hyperspace engines and its sublight power Facility, completely disabling it before the escort ships were able to ward off the Attacking vessels. The Captain of the Super Star Destroyer was later executed by Lord Vader for his ignorance, and the ship was delayed 4 months for repairs. The ship would have been at the Battle of Endor had that foolish Captain not been so stupid. Pellaeon wondered what the turnout of the battle would have been like had it been there. But the Captain Probably would have tried sending it down the ventilation shaft of the Death Star to chaise down the Rebel fighters, considering how dumb he was.

Pellaeon let out a quiet chuckle thinking about it.

"What's so funny Captain?" Thrawn asked, confused as to what Pellaeon found humorous.

"Oh it's nothing sir, just a random thought." Pellaeon said.

"Sir, I have an open Comm. link with the Super Star Destroyer." The Communications officer said.

"Good put it through." Thrawn said.

"This is Admiral Veers, Commander of the Super Star Destroyer Violator, and leader of the Farfin sector Imperial Navy. With whom am I speaking with?" Veers said.

Thrawn smiled deeply, giving a quick glance to Pellaeon before responding.

"I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, Supreme High Commander of the Unknown Sector and In charge of the Yarstoss Imperial Fleet." Thrawn said, bulking his chest outward, Pellaeon wondered was Thrawn mocking Veers?

"Good to meet you Grand Admiral Thrawn. What business do you have here in the Farfin sector?" Veers questioned, obviously displeased with Thrawns presence.

"I wish to invite you aboard my Ship, to discuss future plans for the Empire, will you accept?" Thrawn asked.

"I shall, I will make arrangements to board your vessel at 19:30 hours, Veers out" Veers said with a quick jab off screen he cut the transmission.

"I don't think he is happy to see us sir" Pellaeon said.

"Yes I know, ha ha ha, did you see the way he presented himself? Like he was the Emperor or something." Thrawn said laughing under his words.

"Yes, it was most annoying, I did however like the way you responded." Pellaeon commented.

"Oh thank you, it was the only thing I could said without bursting out with laughter." Thrawn said.

"One thing though, the Yarstoss fleet?" Pellaeon asked.

"Oh well I had to make up something didn't I?" Thrawn said, now walking off the bridge. Pellaeon followed.

"So what now?" Pellaeon asked.

"Well I suppose we will have dinner, and discuss our plans." Thrawn said.

"What are our plans sir?" Pellaeon asked gingerly.

"Well, that remains to be seen, if he "plans" to join us, then that will be our plan, if he doesn't "plan" to join us, then we must "plan" to get him out of our way." Thrawn said.

They went down the corridor towards the Guest Conference room, the room where diplomats would have dinner during discussions; it seemed the viable place for the meeting that would be taking place.

Later that evening at 19:30 hours, almost 4 and a half hours since they talked with Veers his shuttle arrived in the Landing bay of the Chimaera. Thrawn decided to prevent Veers from being a rude little prick, he would have 2 rows of Storm Troopers Form up for Veers arrival. The shuttle entered the landing bay and hissed as it set down. The shuttle was completely clean, from top to bottom, not a scratch on it, as if it had been polished just before it disembarked. Thrawn half expected another Self Priding introduction from Veers but was disappointed to a regularly dressed admiral.

"Welcome Admiral." Thrawn said to Veers. Pellaeon leaned over and whispered to Thrawn.  
"You do realize he promoted himself, he is actually a General." Pellaeon said as quietly as he could, so that Veers did not here.

"Yes I am full aware Captain." Thrawn said with a smile.

"Thank you for having me Grand Admiral." Veers said.

4 storm troopers dressed in bodyguard uniforms followed behind Veers. Obviously he didn't fully trust Thrawn or his intentions.

"This way please" Thrawn said extending his arm towards the exit of the shuttle bay.

"Station 2 more Troopers outside the shuttle" Veers said to one of his bodyguards as they left the Shuttle bay. Pellaeon caught a glance of the bodyguard saying something into a Comm. link.

They walked for a few minutes before finally reaching the Conference room, where 4 waiter droids were servicing the Department heads of the Chimaera, and the on board Ground Forces Commander, Covell. Thrawn and Pellaeon were the first to enter and they took their seats. Veers followed behind and then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Fredrick!? " Veers said, looking directly at Covell.

"Max!!" Covell said, jumping out of his seat to greet Veers. They hugged, and shook hands. Thrawn looked at them with surprise and awe, as did Pellaeon.

"How have you been, I haven't seen you since, damn, since the Battle of Hoth." Covell said, smiling hopelessly.

"Yes I guess it was that long ago wasn't it?" Veers said also smiling.

"I thought you were on the Executor?" Covell asked.

"I was, but I jumped ship once I heard how bad the Damage was, and well managed to survive." Veers said, almost laughing now.

"Man o man, it's been way too long, it's really good to see you again Max." Covell said as he took a seat next to Veers.

"Well, that was interesting, I wasn't aware you knew each other." Thrawn said, almost displeased by the knowledge.

"Yeah I was taught by Max here, and I was at his side during the operations on Hoth. I was later reassigned to the Chimaera, and thought that because he was General of the Executor, that well, when it went down, I just assumed." Covell said looking at Veers.

"Well yes, I managed to survive, and found myself in command of a few scattered remnants." Veers said.

"How did you manage to find yourself a Super Star Destroyer?" Covell asked.

Thrawn was becoming agitated, this was going nowhere, two friends reminiscing, and asking questions that didn't need to be answered, at least not anymore, not the Thrawn.

"Well about 2 months after the Battle of Endor, I decided to start checking up on some of the old Construction Yards, and most were either destroyed by the Rebels or under their control. I Did how ever stumble upon one, out in the Dolomar sector, it was deserted, and all the ships were gone, except for one, an uncompleted Super Star Destroyer, so I brought all my men there and we worked for about 3 months working on finishing it. We received word that the Rebels had learned about our little operation and were planning an attack, so we got all the primary systems online and left, we had a small engagement before we escaped, and after which we basically improvised the uncompleted sections, like the starboard and port Ion Cannon Generators, they were left out and in turn we replaced the section with some more Maneuvering Thrusters.I tell you, the Violator is one powerful ship, it has its weaknesses though…" Veers said, stopping suddenly and looking up at Thrawn, who was paying close attention to every detail said. "But yes, that's not to topic tonight. I actually don't even know what the topic is, Grand Admiral?" Veers asked.

" Ah yes, well, where to begin. Veers, do you know who I am?" Thrawn asked.

"Well, a Grand Admiral, sir." Veers said with much confusion in his voice.

"No, I mean, have you ever heard of me before today?" Thrawn asked.

"Well to be honest, no, in fact I'm still uncertain of your title, I was under the impression that the Emperor did not approve of non-humans." Veers said, his voice implied that he also, was not fond of non-humans as he so colorfully put it.

"Well then I suppose ill fill you in." Thrawn said with a large gleaming smile on his face, his eyes bored into Veers, glowing and motionless.

"I have spent most of my career in the Unknown Sectors, my countless victories there earned me the right to wear this White Uniform. I became the 13th grand admiral to serve the Emperor. Just before the Battle of Endor I was sent on a rather long Mission to the Unknown Sector, again. The nature of that mission is not important, but required my long stay. I have served with Vader, who I hear you served with as well. I earned his trust and The Emperors. Now that I have returned I plan to destroy the Rebels, once and for all, but before I do that, I require a larger fleet, and well, frankly, I require your help." Thrawn said. Veers sat there, searching his memory for any mention of Thrawns name from Vader.

"Well that is most honorable Admiral, but I don't think at this time my interest require me joining up with any other Leaders right now." Veers said.

Pellaeon sat back, this was not good, he was unwilling to join, Thrawn was not going to be pleased, he looked over at Thrawn, who was now slightly frowning.

"I don't think you see it correctly, Veers, I am a superior officer, and I require your loyalty." Thrawn said. It seemed as if his eyes were glowing ever brighter now.

"I don't really give a shit who the hell you are, you could be the Emperor himself, I still wouldn't care, I am not about to allow anyone to command over me." Veers said, rage filling his voice.

Pellaeon was dumbfounded, such rudeness towards Thrawn, foul language and everything. This was certainly not turning out as Thrawn had planned, or was it? Thrawn didn't seem to be asking or proposing in the nicest of ways, maybe he wanted Veers to be an enemy, perhaps to convince Veers crew to see Veers as some kind of tyrant.

"Interesting, you are rather rude Veers, and I believe you have overstayed your welcome." Thrawn said standing up. Veers stood up next and then everyone else followed inline. Covell was shocked as hell, a look of fear in his eyes, and the rest of the department heads were just looking rather pissed at Veers.

"You have just made a big mistake Thrawn, we will not tolerate such behavior, not from some alien scum like you " Veers said, and with that stormed out of the room, his bodyguards following behind. Thrawn left the room as well, now heading towards the bridge, Pellaeon followed.

"This is going to be most interesting." Thrawn said, walking at an increased pace towards the lift.

"I wouldn't have chosen those exact words, but yes I agree" Pellaeon said, as they boarded the Turbo lift, Pellaeon saw Covell standing outside the Conference room, confused.

This was really bad; Pellaeon was still trying to figure out what exactly just happened, Veers, calling Thrawn "alien Scum". Where the hell did he get off saying that to him? And why? They reached the bridge and Thrawn quickly took a seat at his command chair, he scanned the readouts with his eyes.

"His shuttle is just leaving now, good." Thrawn said, a large smile growing on his face. Pellaeon was looking out the view port at the Violator, a huge ship, 5 times the length of the Chimaera. It was turning, turning towards them. Pellaeon as sure they were powering their systems and preparing an attack.

"Sir, they are preparing to attack." Pellaeon said to Thrawn who was entering coordinates into his Tactical Readout.

"Yes, I know, excuse me Captain, " Thrawn said as he turned on his Comm. link, "Fire control, I want you to fire 3 Turbo laser shots at that shuttle, I want one to hit each wing and set it for 25% power, I don't want it destroyed, you understand?" Thrawn ordered.

"Sir, yes sir." The voice came back.

Thrawn stood up and walked over to the window and looked out at Veers's shuttle, which was getting further away.

"Sir don't you think we should go to battle stations?" Pellaeon asked.

"Not yet, wait till we have fired, when we go to battle stations the computers automatically set the Turbo lasers to full power." Thrawn said.

Outside there was a quick flash as 3 shots from the front of the Chimaera chased towards the shuttle. And just like ordered, one hit each wing.

"Ha ha ha, yes!" Thrawns aid, laughing.

"I don't understand, it didn't do any damage." Pellaeon said.

"Captain, I have been studying The art work from Veer's home world Nal Hutta, as you know, and well I have reached a few conclusions, one, they have attitudes worse than a Rancor with Heartburn, that is why he was so rude. Second, they love to present themselves well, that shuttle is cleaner than a brand new Ship. He takes care of it, wants it to look it's best. And that's why I fired one low powered shot at each wing, it scorched the metal, and will never look that good ever again. Third, he is a ground forces General, I highly doubt he will be ready for my Tactics." Thrawn said, " Battle stations, I want all sections on high alert, get the pilots to their fighters!!"

Pellaeon looked down at his display and zoomed in on Veers's shuttle. And just as Thrawn said, the blast marks were imbedded deep into the shuttles hull. Pellaeon let out a quick single laugh.

"Very good sir, but do you really think that we can take on that ship?" Pellaeon asked.

"No, but I don't think they're going to fight for very long, I did a little research on his ship, I scanned that thing over and over again, at first I thought it was a glitch, but I found out I was right, it has practically no fighter defense." Thrawn said.

" What? Really? No laser batteries huh?" Pellaeon asked, looking out at the Violator, now almost completely turned towards them. The thing was slightly faster than most Super Star Destroyers, but still sluggish. This was going to be a damaging battle; it only takes 4 direct hits from a Super Star Destroyer to bring the Chimaera's shields down the 50%.

"I want all fighters launched, divide them into 2 groups, Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma squadrons are now the Sigma Squadron. And Tau, Nu, Mu squadrons are now known as the Omega Squadron. Send Sigma far Starboard and Omega far port, come around at point 2.8.0 and ourselves, I want attack pattern Delta." Thrawn ordered.

Pellaeon wasn't sure if this was a battle they could win. Pellaeon looked down and saw that the violator had still not launched any fighters, but was still turning towards them. Then suddenly it stopped turning. He no longer saw Veers's shuttle on his scopes, it must have already landed. And out of nowhere, the Violator Jumped into Hyperspace.

"What!!??" Pellaeon yelped.

Thrawn looked out at the small trial of debris that followed the jump path of the Violator.

"What a fool, he didn't wait until all the garbage was out of the ships holding bin before jumping, we can now track his jump path." Thrawn said.

"Order our fighter back in" Pellaeon said to the Deck Officer.

"So what? We follow?" Pellaeon asked.

"Yes, but first we must contact the Star Destroyers Annihilator and the Avenger, plus my interdictor cruiser Judicator." Thrawn said, watched the floating debris," It's not over yet, he won't get away that easily."

Pellaeon watched as the TIE fighters disappeared under the hull of the ship. Thrawn stood there staring out into space, the planet Derilliem V floated next to them. Thrawn turned and left the bridge, Pellaeon decided not to follow, Thrawn was probably going to contact the other ships, and he didn't need Pellaeon questioning his motives anymore today.


	7. Chapter 7

Pellaeon waited on the bridge for almost an hour, and had still not heard from Thrawn. He was becoming impatient. So he decided to go to Thrawns quarters and see what was happening. 

When he reached his quarters he noticed that Rukh was not there. Pellaeon let himself in. Thrawn was sitting at his desk and 3 blue hologram images of Captain Brandei, Captain Ferris and Captain Hermis were floating before him. Thrawn was giving them orders and Pellaeon could barely make out the words '2 minutes then 5'. They didn't make sense so Pellaeon ignored them.

"Then we will see you there Admiral, Brandei out." The hologram image of Captain Brandei vanished, and the others soon followed.

"Yes Captain?" Thrawn said turning to face Pellaeon.

"I was wondering what we are doing? We have been here for almost an hour, are we going to follow Veers or not?" Pellaeon asked.

"Yes, I have already issued an order to the bridge, we're leaving in 2 minutes." Thrawn responded.

"Oh, I see. Well, I suppose I came here too soon then." Pellaeon said.

"Yes, I suppose you have." Thrawn said, smiling as he did so.

"Sir, I was wondering, I haven't seen your body guard Rukh around lately." Pellaeon asked.

"Ah yes, well I haven't either, I don't know where he is, he is probably hiding somewhere in the air duct system or one of the cargo bays, no worry." Thrawn answered.

"I don't understand, why? Aren't body guards supposed to stay near the one they protect?" Pellaeon asked.

"Well for the most part he does, but his species has an event every year, not all at the same time of course, but for the males, they have certain, let's just say reproductive needs, and this just happens to be Rukh's time." Thrawn said, suppressing a smile.

"So it's a mating ritual thing?" Pellaeon asked.

"Yes, I've scanned the possible locations that Veers could have retreated to, and the most viable one is the Remoss system, a small unsettled planet hidden behind an asteroid field." Thrawn said.

"I don't see how that is wise," Pellaeon said" I mean, a ship that big would have a hell of a time getting through an asteroid field, wouldn't you think?" 

"Not really, I mean, a ship with shields like that you can fly right through it, and not sustain any damage." Thrawn said, getting up from his seat. " I've studied the artwork from Nal Hutta, I'm telling you, the way they fight is to run and have you follow, a greater defense is a greater offense they say."

"Well then shall we go to the bridge?" Pellaeon asked.

"Certainly Captain, certainly." Thrawn said, as he walked towards the door.

They were in hyperspace for about 23 hours before they exited in the Remoss system.

Outside Pellaeon could see the planet Remoss, hidden deep behind an asteroid field.

"How do you propose we get through those rocks?" Pellaeon asked.

"Well we blast right through them, it's been done before, the Battle of Hoth for example, the Star Destroyer's commanded by Vader, they chased the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid belt." Thrawn answered.

"Well yes, but if you recall, the Star Destroyer Adjucator lost it's command tower when an asteroid hit it, killing all the officers on board." Pellaeon said. " They did manage to repair it though, took several months. A waste of time if you ask me, the Rebels captured it at the Battle of Endor, they renamed it to the Liberator I believe."

"Why do the Rebels insist on renaming ships to stupid things like Liberty and Freedom, it really is annoying don't you think?" Thrawn said.

"Yes sir I do, so shall we go ahead and make our way through this asteroid field?" Pellaeon asked, Thrawn was scanning it on his tactical display.

"Yes, I believe I've found the best way through, I think it might be where Veers went through. Look, " Thrawn said, Pellaeon leaned over and looked at the display " See there are very fewer asteroids along this path, maybe they used a tractor beam to move them aside and then back, trying to cover the way in."

"Yes it does appear that way doesn't it." Pellaeon said. He looked up and outside the window saw a Star Destroyer exiting hyperspace in front of them, closer to the asteroid field than them.

"Is that one of ours?" Pellaeon asked one of the pit crew.

"No sir, the computer does not register it as one of ours." The Ensign responded.

"Well this is interesting." Thrawn said looking at the unknown ship. Look its heading right for the same path that we were going to take," Thrawn said " wait a sec, look!"

Pellaeon looked at Thrawns display and noticed the same thing, the asteroids were moving on their own, like they were ships or something. Pellaeon walked over to his display near the front view port and scanned an individual asteroid. It registered a defense platform attached to it.

"Well we certainly can't go that way, those defense platforms would tear us apart, I mean look there must be 40 of them." Pellaeon said.

"Yes, I suppose we'll have to find another way in." Thrawn said.

Just then another Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace, this time, Thrawn stopped Pellaeon from giving any orders to the pit crew.

"It's ours don't worry." Thrawn said.

Pellaeon scanned it, it was the Annihilator. He looked at the time display on his monitor; it was exactly 2 minutes after they reached this planet. That was what Thrawn had meant by "2 minutes then 5". 3 minutes from now the Judicator and Avenger will arrive as well.

"I can't get a clear reading through the asteroid field, we don't even know if Veers is back there." Pellaeon said.

"Oh he's back there, waiting for us. I've scanned all around the belt, I don't think there's another way in, look, there are scattered defense platforms all over the place, and probably even more that we can't see." Thrawn said, frowning at his display.

"Well maybe with both the Chimaera and the Annihilator firing together we can get through that passage." Pellaeon said, looking out at the enemy Star Destroyer that was making its way through the field.

"Yes, but greatly damaged. Wait, I've got it, if we send a few TIE interceptors out there, and have them leak some of their fuel in a path from one plat form to the next we can destroy one and create a chain reaction, that will take out a good amount." Thrawn said, while entering calculations into his computer.

"With all do respect sir, I don't think any pilot here can evade all those batteries, they wouldn't last 10 seconds out there." Pellaeon said.

"That's assuming we're not there distracting them." Thrawns aid, now standing up.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Pellaeon said to himself, as he followed Thrawn to the back of the Bridge.

"Lieutenant Jimmerson!" Thrawn said, the young man stood up quickly and saluted.

"Yes sir?" Jimmerson responded.

"I have a plan and need your help with it." Thrawns aid, turning to Pellaeon." Captain, go prepare the pilots, I want the 5 best men you have." 

"Yes sir" Pellaeon said as he left the bridge he turned and saw Thrawn entering coordinates into the computer station in front of Jimmerson.

This is insane; he's going to destroy my ship, Pellaeon thought to himself, as he made his way down the flight deck.

15 minutes later Pellaeon returned to the bridge and went directly to Thrawn.

"Sir, I must protest, I do not agree with this course of action!" Pellaeon said.

"Objection noted." Thrawns aid, not even looking up at Pellaeon.

"Damn it, I don't want my ship destroyed!" Pellaeon said, whispering it to make sure the bridge crew didn't hear. Thrawn turned to face Pellaeon, his eyes glowing at him.

"I said, Objection noted, my plan will work, stop worrying." Thrawn said, talking through his teeth.

Pellaeon walked to his computer, and noticed the Judicator and the Avenger had not arrived.

"Where are the other ships?" Pellaeon asked.

"What other ships?" Thrawns said looking up at Pellaeon.

"Well in your chamber I heard you say '2 and then 5', I figured it meant 2 minutes the Annihilator arrives, then 5 minutes the Avenger and the judicator." Pellaeon said, quite confused.

"Well, I wasn't talking about minutes Captain." Thrawn said, turning to one of the pit crew he nodded and the ship began moving.

Pellaeon turned and looked out the window at the asteroids, which were becoming larger. When they finally entered firing range, the Chimaera and the Annihilator began attacking the asteroid defense platforms. Soon afterward the 2 Star Destroyers entered the Defense platforms firing range and green flashes illuminated the bridge. Pellaeon was uneasy as they entered deep into the field and were surrounded by the platforms. Thrawn turned again to the pit crew and nodded. Pellaeon noticed that the TIE interceptors had launched, they all flew in separate directions and began leaking their fuel, they streamed from one target to the next, when the unexpected happened. One of the TIE fighters misread his instructions and flew by the wrong asteroid. The plan was the ships attacked one group of asteroids and the TIEs set up the others, well this TIE made and error, and the Chimaera fired at the Asteroid and the fuel ignited. The explosion was spectacular as it snaked back to the other platforms the pilot flew by, destroying each one as it passed. Thrawn stood up.

"That fool!!!" Thrawn said, looking at the TIE who had made the error.

"Get those other fighters back in now!" Pellaeon said to the flight control station.

"Cancel that Order!" Thrawn said, " They were sent out there for a reason, and they will complete their mission.

Pellaeon watched as the other fighters kept on encircling the Platforms. The one who had messed up had a huge fireball chasing right behind him, and he didn't even notice, only seconds after he flew by an asteroid it was engulfed and destroyed. Every asteroid it flew by was taken out right away.

"This is working out better than we though, most impressive." Thrawn said, noticing the positive repercussions of the mistake.

"Shall we light up the other streams?" Pellaeon asked.

"Most definitely, they will be dead quicker and less damage will be sustained." Thrawn said now with a smile covering his face.

The Chimaera and the Annihilator began firing on the trails of fuel left by the TIEs and the fireworks began. 5 trails of fire were circling around the asteroid belt, destroying the defense platforms left and right, within minutes the whole lot of them was gone and the entrance was cleared.

"Order those TIEs back in immediately." Thrawn said as they now emerged on the other side of the belt.

"And scan the planet, I want to know where Veers ship is, and that other one that came in here." Pellaeon added.

"I'd say that worked out rather well, wouldn't you?" Thrawn said, obviously gloating to Pellaeon.

"Yes, but I suppose we have that TIE pilot to thank." Pellaeon responded.

Only seconds after the order, the deck officer provided the coordinates of Veer's Super Star Destroyer and the Guarding vessel. Pellaeon scanned them and noticed they were in a low orbit, maybe they had sent some craft down to the planet.

"What now sir?" Pellaeon asked.

"We engage them." Thrawn said back.

And with that, the Chimaera and the Annihilator started towards the planet, maximum sublight speed.


	8. Chapter 8

The asteroid belt was in a very high orbit from the planet, some 650,000 kilometers away, but at the Chimaera's maximum sublight speed it took merely 5 minutes to reach standard orbit of the planet. The Annihilator took a flanking position along side the Chimaera as they approached the Violator and the other mysterious Star Destroyer positioned beside it. Thrawn stood at the center view port string at the 2 ships that were becoming more visible.

"What do you think is a good way to let them know our intentions?" Thrawn said turning to Pellaeon.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Pellaeon said, also looking at the 2 enemy vessels.

"Maybe this…" Thrawn said as he entered in a few commands in his chairs tactical monitor. Within seconds a few proton torpedo's launched from the fore torpedo room, heading right for the Violator. Thrawn eyeballed his tactical display carefully; a frown grew on his face as he murmured, " Where the hell are they?"

"Where is who sir?" Pellaeon asked.

"Don't mind yourself with it, are our fighters all ready to launch?" Thrawn asked, obviously changing the subject.

"Yes, and the Annihilators as well sir, when shall we launch?" Pellaeon asked.

"Soon Captain, soon." Thrawn said, standing up straight. Pellaeon hadn't noticed Thrawn height until this very moment; perhaps it was his stance during the quiet moment before a battle. Pellaeon had always felt this was the greatest moment, the minutes before the battle begun. Two forces, beginning a duel that only one would walk away from. Pellaeon looked at the planet Remoss. He thought maybe there was a primitive species down there, looking up at the ships, and if one of them crashed, would be just like the Noghri. Suddenly his display beeped 5 times signaling a newly acquired target.

"Admiral, I'm detecting 4 shuttles ascending from the surface, and a few more unidentified craft following them." Pellaeon said, turning to face Thrawn.

"Yes I see them, and I know what Veer's is doing, and we must stop him before he gets a chance to leave the system." Thrawn said.

"Before he leaves? I don't understand, why would he leave? And how, we're standing in front of the way out." Pellaeon asked franticly.

"No, they could fly right by us without sustaining any damage, as for why they would leave, I believe this planet is a training facility of some kind, for ground troops. He's gathering his forces, and then he'll fight us, but we can't let him get ready." Thrawn said, eyeballing his monitor.

Pellaeon turned to the view port, the Violator and the companion Star Destroyer were no longer in a low orbit, no they were in fact heading right for them. Pellaeon knew as Thrawn did, that they would have no problem getting past them. Pellaeon quickly sent an order to the Annihilators Captain, stating an attack pattern. If they were going to get by them, they were going to get as much damage as possible first.

"Sir, I've ordered a new-" Pellaeon begun.

"Yes I know." Thrawn shouted back.

"Sir, I don't understand, what is the purpose of gathering ground troops for a fleet offensive?" Pellaeon asked.

"Because Captain, he wants to board and capture our ships." Thrawn snapped back.

Pellaeon turned again, and noticed that the Violator was barely 5 kilometers away, they were approaching fast, and they were headed right between the Chimaera and the Annihilator.

"Sir, shall I launch our fighters?" Pellaeon asked. Thrawn looked up.

"Can your pilots handle flying in an enclosed space between 4 ships?" Thrawn asked.

"Yes sir, they have done it before, and a few even at the Battle of Endor." Pellaeon said back.

"Then proceed." Thrawn said. Pellaeon was obviously getting on Thrawns nerves, but then again, I suppose Thrawn was a little pissed off that his plan had failed, whatever it was.

Pellaeon ordered the fighters to launch, and to only attack the unknown Star Destroyer. His pilots were indeed familiar with this kind of combat. During the Battle of Endor, they had flown between all the Star Destroyers and the Rebel armada. Lots of battery fire to watch for as well as the enemy fighters. Now all the remained a question was, weather or not Veers would launch his own fighters, they can't just enter hyperspace without them, and if they had planned on escaping, they would probably just keep them in the hangar.

The Violator was only 550 meters away know, its Turbo lasers were firing rapidly at the Chimaera and the Annihilator. There was a bright green glow illuminating the bridge now. When the Violator was half way past the Chimaera, the shields began to weaken significantly. As for Veers's other Star Destroyer, it had been under heavy fire from both the fighter groups from the Annihilator and the Chimaera, but also the Turbo laser fire from the ships them selves. Thrawn sat quietly at his command chair. 

Alarms began to sound all over the bridge; the shields were at 50% and falling fast. Pellaeon looked out at the enemy Star Destroyer, which had almost completely past them now, the Chimaera itself began to turn after it. 

"Captain, Captain, we have a message from the Captain of the Annihilator!" the communications officer yelled.

"Put it through!" Pellaeon shouted back. The sound of alarms and other shouting made the bridge a hectic place indeed. Suddenly a pit crewman's station exploded in front of him, sparks flew out in every direction, as a small fire grew in the pit. Pellaeon paused and watched as the emergency extinguisher vents put it out, and made a thick cloud grow over the whole bridge. Shouting was even louder now. Pellaeon looked at a display nearby as he tried to get to the communications station, he noticed that the shields were at critical. Another explosion erupted in the pit, knocking Pellaeon to his knees, then flat on his face. Then there was no sound. He picked himself up, and looked around, there was another fire, this time right next to him, but he couldn't hear anything, he looked up at a crew man who was trying to get out of the pit, he was shouting, but still no sound, just a loud ringing, that seemed to be getting louder and louder. His vision was blurred now, he stood up, and looked at the communications officer who was shouting at him, he could barley make out his voice now, it was a ruffle if anything. Pellaeon stood up and began walking, limping more so, over to the station. He could make out his name, someone was shouting it. The bridge was filled with smoke now, the fire had been extinguished, but the white foam had left a nice cloud in its place. Again he heard his name, he turned and saw the communications officer shouting. It was compete chaos. His hearing was slowly coming back. He could clearly understand what he was hearing, but it was accompanied by a ringing. The display in front of him showed the face of Captain Ferris, who was in charge of the Annihilator. He could make out only parts, but it was pretty clear what was being said, the Annihilator was taking heavy damage. Pellaeon switched off the display and limped over to Thrawn who was now standing facing the view port, watching the battle raging outside. The ship was still turning, attempting to chaise the Violator. Pellaeon noticed the enemy Star Destroyer was no longer there; only large amounts of debris were left in its place.

"We got one, but I don't think we'll get the other." Thrawn said, a tone of disappointment in his voice.

"We're taking too much damage sir, we must abandon the ship, we have to evacuate." Pellaeon said, coughing as he did so.

"No we don't. He doesn't want us dead, remember, he wants our ships." Thrawn said, pointing out at the Violator, which was now stopping, turning about.

Pellaeon entered a few commands into his display again, and then paged commander Covell.

"Covell, I want all security teams in position, we are about to get boarded, and there will be lots of them." Pellaeon said.

"Yes sir." Covell's voice came back.

Outside the ship the Violator was still turning, but then, as it gave view for the asteroid belt, Thrawn and Pellaeon noticed, that there were 3 ships coming in from the entrance, 2 Star Destroyers and 1 Interdictor cruiser.

"Captain Brandei is hailing us Captain!" The communications officer shouted.

"Put it through." Pellaeon said back, excitement in his voice.

"This is Captain Brandei, are we too late?" Brandei said, extremely sarcastic.

"What the hell kept you so long?" Thrawn asked.

"Well, we came out of hyperspace on the other side of the planet, and had to fly all the way around to find a way through this damn field." Brandei said.

The Violator was now heading fast for Remoss, trying to get away. This was an interesting turn of events. The Chimaera and the Annihilator finally turned back around just as the Judicator, Avenger, and the interdictor Constrainer got near them. They finally caught up with the Violator, at an orbit of 1,000 kilometers of the Planet Remoss. 

"The battle has only just begun" Thrawn said.


	9. Chapter 9

The bridge was still filled with a white cloud, thinner but still present. Thrawn and Pellaeon stood at the front of the bridge, both busy entering commands into their tactical displays. The Chimaera was badly damaged, perhaps the most it had ever been in it's day, but it had a good crew, it was finally true. Pellaeon had fought all these years, fought for a new beginning, a chance to use his military intellect, and to win through the night. Thrawns plan had worked, to a degree, he had planned for the other ships to come in from behind the Violator, and that is what happened, but only after they took extreme amounts of fire. The Annihilator was just as damaged, though its shields were recharging faster, maybe the Chimaeras generators had been hit, but with the chaos that was running throughout the ship it was hard to tell.  
  
"Captain, we have the damage report from the engineering deck." Commander Alkar said, handing a small computer tab to him. Pellaeon placed it into his display. "Admiral, the solar-ionization reactor has been hit, it's not bad, but that's probably why our shields aren't recharging at normal speed. Also our internal communications relay system is down." Pellaeon said to Thrawn. "Yes I figured that much from the fact that they handed you the report on a disk." Thrawn was entering in coordinates, and transmitting them to the other ships.  
The Violator was still running fast, but it was heading along the orbit of the planet, and the gravity was slowing it down. It was also slowing down the Star Destroyers chasing it, but their size prevented it from slowing them down too much, and they were slowly gaining on Veers. Thrawn was now entering in gravitational trajectories, and sending them to the Constrainer. "In 2 minutes they will create a gravity well, and we'll have them." Thrawn said, looking up at Pellaeon, "I want our fighters to do a sweep along the top and port sides, the Annihilator and ourselves will have to stay back, but the Avenger and the Judicator will come in from the bottom." Thrawn said. "Eye sir, I'll relay the message to fighter control." Pellaeon said as he walked over to the communications station.  
  
"Captain, I have a problem." One of the ensigns in the control pit called to Pellaeon. "I'm in a hurry, what is it?" Pellaeon asked. "Well I didn't notice before, but I see it now, the Violator is leaking drive fuel." The ensign said. "What?" Pellaeon said, turning and walking over to Thrawn, "Admiral, the Violator is leaking fuel, it won't be getting away anytime soon, if they attempt to jump into hyperspace-" Pellaeon froze. He quickly walked over to his display, and did a history check, the Violator had been leaking fuel only since it entered orbit, meaning they were doing it on purpose. "Admiral, he's pulling the same move that we did to his defense platforms." Pellaeon said, now realizing that all 5 ships were deep inside the fuel stream. "Interesting." Thrawn said, as he read his own display, realizing the same thing, "Order the other ships to move outside the cloud."  
  
Pellaeon and Thrawn quickly relayed the message to the other ships that were now moving fast out of the fuel path, as was the Chimaera itself. Veer's had obviously noticed they were moving out of the fuel path and ordered the attack. The Violator shot lasers at the fuel, and an explosion followed back to the ships. Only the Annihilator was still inside the fuel and was caught in the explosion. The effect of which knocked down its shields all together, and fried the entire port side. The Annihilator was now disabled and drifting down towards the planet Remoss.  
  
Thrawn opened a COM. Channel to the other ships, " Get into position and lock tractor beams on the Annihilator now!" Thrawn said.  
  
Pellaeon looked out at the Violator, which was now getting away.  
  
"What shall we do about the Violator?" Pellaeon asked. "We'll just half to get him later won't we?" Thrawn said.  
  
Just then, the Violator jumped into hyperspace, crashing right through the asteroid belt. It was strong enough to do so without sustaining much damage. But now, it was impossible to prevent Veer's from rallying the remainder of his fleet, it would be some time before they could find him again, and when they do, he will have all his ships, and it will be a damaging battle indeed.  
  
Pellaeon stayed on the bridge throughout the remainder of the evening, surveying the repairs. Thrawn had returned to his quarters and was probably conjuring up a plan. It was almost 3 hours before all of their ships were in shape to enter hyperspace, and when they were, they immediately set off to Yarstoss. When they entered hyperspace Pellaeon decided to go figure out what Thrawn was planning now. Pellaeon reached Thrawns quarters and looked around for Rukh, who was still nowhere in site. Pellaeon hit the signal button letting Thrawn know someone was at the door. "Come in," Thrawns voice came back through the intercom. Pellaeon walked in, the whole room was dim except for one holo-painting.  
  
"Look at it, this one was hard to find." Thrawn said, staring at the painting. "It's not as nice as the others sir, is this also Huttese?" Pellaeon asked. "Yes, but the this one was done by Veer's himself, in his academy art class." Thrawn hit a button and the holo-painting was replaced by a dim white light, the rest of the holo-projectors became lights as well and the room was slightly brighter. "These are not enjoyable times captain." Thrawn said, looking more serious than ever. "Yes sir." Was all that Pellaeon could leak out.  
  
"But these will be our most glorious, heroes are not made sitting on occupied Coruscant, they are made fighting for its freedom." Thrawn said as he stood up. "Yes sir." Pellaeon said, he turned around and left, deciding Thrawn was busy. Thrawn stood there, staring out the window, remembering the glory of the once mighty empire. "We shall rise again," Thrawn said to himself, "and the remains of the rebellion will be our foundation." 


	10. Chapter 10

Pellaeon sat in his quarters reading a book and enjoying a cup of Gilderian Tea. Outside his window hyperspace fills the view, they have set course for Yarstoss, but are damaged and the hyper drive is only running at 75% power, so there is still 14 hours left in their journey. Pellaeon is unable to sleep, there is something there, excitement, the recent battle with Veers was a challenge and has left Pellaeon's adrenaline running. It has been way too long since his last real battle. Although these battles are with fellow imperials, it is not as hard as he thought it would be. It still confuses Pellaeon as to why anyone would follow Veer's leadership, he hasn't made a true name for himself in the galaxy, and he has certainly not toyed with the New Republic. Or has he?  
Pellaeon jumped up from his seat and walked over to his computer terminal. He sat down and began searching the pervious months New Republic activities in the near by systems. After only 2 minutes of searching he finds it. 14 New Republic vessels have mysteriously disappeared in the Einider System. All cargo vessels, all carrying weapons and other supplies. Pellaeon then searches the sensor records from the Derilliem System and the Remoss System. And again, there it is, debris from Bulk Cruisers, the type of cargo transports the New Republic uses. Pellaeon stood up, quickly putting on his uniform he leaves his quarters, and heads towards Thrawn's Chambers. He arrives within the minute, and signals his presence. "Come in." Thrawn's voice comes over the speaker. "Sir I have something you might want to see." Pellaeon hands Thrawn the data pad with the records highlighted. "Yes I know, I have already devised a course of action regarding this." Thrawn says, setting the data pad down. Although it makes his findings useless, Pellaeon is neither confused nor insulted by Thrawn's pervious knowledge of this, merely interested in the course of action in mind. "What is it that you have planned?" Pellaeon asks. "Well, that will be revealed in good time Captain." Thrawn says, it wasn't until now that Pellaeon noticed that there was barley enough light to see Thrawn's figure sitting in his chair. Thrawn merely sat there starring out the window into space. Pellaeon looked out the window as well, but was interrupted. "Is that all?" Thrawn asked, looking up at Pellaeon. He looked back at him; only Thrawn's eyes could be seen in the figure. "Yes sir, good night." Pellaeon said as he turned and walked out.  
  
It was 08:30 when Pellaeon's wake up call came in. "Captain, we have reached the Yarstoss System and have begun repairs." Alkar's voice came in through the computer terminal. "Thank you, I'll be up shortly." Pellaeon said as he sat up in his bed, stretching his arms outward his back cracked. He felt something, today was going to be a long day, but then again they always were. He stood up and walked into the bathroom and began to get ready.  
  
He emerged from his quarters 15 minutes later, ready to go to the bridge, but first decided to get something to eat. He took the turbo lift down to the galley and got some coffee, and a chunk of Malastarian biscuit. Then headed up to the bridge. When he arrived, the bridge was barely stationed. "Lieutenant!" Pellaeon called. "Yes Captain" Alkar responded. "Where the hell is everyone?" Pellaeon asked sharply. "Sir, Thrawn has given them different orders." Alkar said. "What orders?" Pellaeon asked even more sharply. "Sir, he has them down in the training center, they are doing battle drills." Alkar said, a beep from his station caught his attention. "Excuse me sir."  
  
Interesting, Thrawn has them doing battle drills, much needed ones too. Pellaeon walked over to the front of the bridge and began looking over the ships repair status, the Solar Ionization reactor was at the top of the list, and the repair estimate was 2 and half hours. Pellaeon looked up and outside saw the sun rising over Yarstoss. It has been a long time since he has watched a sunrise, a very long time. "Captain?" a young voice called. Turning to see a young private in the crew pit, Pellaeon walked over to him. "Yes?" "Sir, the Death's Head and the Dark Star have just exited hyperspace." The private said. "Very good, tell them to take up defensive positions around the Annihilator." Pellaeon said.  
  
Pellaeon turned back towards the window and searched the sky for the 2 joining ships. Then he saw them heading in from the starboard. Pellaeon turned back and there was Thrawn, sitting at his command chair.  
  
"Good morning Admiral" Pellaeon said. "Good the Death's Head and Dark Star have arrived." Thrawn said aloud. "The repairs will be completed before afternoon. What are your orders?" Pellaeon asked. "As of yet, we will wait for the Annihilator to finish her repairs then we will stage an attack on the Einider Shipping Yards." Thrawn said, now reading over a data pad. "Sir, is that wise? Won't it be heavily defended what with the attacks from Veers?" Pellaeon said rather concerned. "It is indeed wise, you will see." Thrawn said.  
  
Without warning an Alarm sounded and the bridge's stations lit up with red displays. It was a battle station alert.  
  
"What is it private?" Pellaeon asked. "Sir incoming ships, Republic vessels!" The Private shouted. "How many?" Pellaeon asked calmly. "I count two Mon Calamari Cruisers, four Nebulon-B Frigates, and three Bulk Cruisers." The Private said back.  
  
Pellaeon turned around and searched the outside space, and saw them, they were heading in fast.  
  
"Contact the Constrainer and instruct them to activate the gravity well!" Pellaeon shouted to the private as he walked over to Thrawn. "Sir shall I bridge the rest of the bridge crew up here?" Pellaeon asked. "No need, the Death's Head, Avenger, and Judicator can take care of them." Thrawn said still reading his data pad. "Yes sir." Pellaeon said as he turned around and walked up to his display terminal. He began entering in commands and informing the fleet of Thrawn's orders.  
  
The Republic vessels were caught in the Gravity well within minutes and began launching their fighters, while setting up an attack formation for their vessels, the Bulk Cruisers having no weapons and low shields stayed as far back as they could, while the other capitol ships started heading towards the Imperial fleet.  
  
"Get the pilots to their fighters and launch immediately!" Pellaeon shouted.  
  
The bridge was still almost completely unmanned; the Chimaera would be having no part in this battle. Pellaeon noticed something, a complete lack of nervousness, normally when faced with this sort of situation he would be fearful, fearful of his crew, and of himself. But not anymore, he felt like he did back in the days when the Emperor was still alive. He felt like they had a chance.  
  
The Republic ships were in range now and began firing their weapons, flashes of green and red raced between the ships. The Annihilator was the furthest from the battle, next was the Chimaera, they were both weak, and had no use in the battle, but then again, they were the perfect targets for the Republic fighter pilots. A squad of X-wings was heading right for the Chimaera.  
  
"Private, have our fighters launched yet?" Pellaeon asked. "No sir, they are launching now!" The response came.  
  
Just as the X-wings passed by the forward Imperial Ships and started their attack run on the Chimaera, a swarm of TIE Fighters launched and moved in to defend. The X-Wings broke off and headed along the stern. When they came around a group of TIE Interceptors was on their tail. Wasting no time the TIE pilots came in on all fronts. 5 of the TIES were destroyed in the cross fire but in the end all of the X-Wings were gone.  
  
"Very good," Thrawn said ", launch a squadron of TIE Bombers and have them do an attack run on the Bulk Cruisers back there. Disable them if possible." "Yes sir" Pellaeon said.  
  
The capitol ship battle was not going as well, the Mon Calamari Cruisers are not as weak as they once were back in the time of the Alliance. The have already taken the Dark Star's shields down to critical, and were now working on the Death's Head. The Republic losses were noticed mainly in the fighter losses, but the capitol ships were holding up nicely, the only weakened ships were the Nebulon-B Frigates and even they were still strong in the fight. "Sir! I'm detecting 5 ships exiting hyperspace along the same exit path as the Republic ships!" A private shouted out from the crew pit. "What class are they?" Thrawn asked. "Sir, 3 Star Destroyers and 2 Interdictor Cruisers!" The private said with obvious shock. "Interesting." Thrawn said as he stood up and walked over to the forward windows.  
  
The new Imperial ships came in from behind the Republic Bulk Cruisers, and immodestly disabled them with their Ion Cannons, then turned on the attacking Republic Vessels. The first of the Republic Vessels was destroyed within minutes. The remaining ships were all in critical condition rather quickly after that. The New Imperial ships attacked together, all 5 would attack one ship until it was too badly damaged to be of any use in the fight then they would move to their next target. One of the Nebulon-B Frigates exploded, sending out debris into one of the disabled Mon Calamari cruisers. Crashing into its Aft Engine Supports, it sent a chain reaction through the ship creating another massive explosion. The battle was won, and the New Ships were the reason.  
  
"Hail the Lead Star Destroyer." Thrawn said as he walked up to the Communications station.  
  
The private entered in commands and a figure appeared on the screen.  
  
"Greetings, I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, who may I ask are you?" Thrawn said. "I am Captain Berdin, of the Star Destroyer Enforcer. We are very pleased to meet you Grand Admiral, but also, quite confused, what are you doing here?" Berdin asked. "Will you join us Aboard the Chimaera for dinner tonight? And we will explain in full." Thrawn invited. "We will be honored to accept your invitation, we will join you at 18:30 hours. Berdin out." Berdin said as the display turned off.  
  
Thrawn turned and looked at Pellaeon.  
  
"What a surprising turn of events." Thrawn said as he walked by Pellaeon, leaving the bridge.  
  
Berdin came aboard at 18:30 hours as said and they all went to the Executive Conference room a much more inviting place to eat than the one they met Veer's in.  
  
"Admiral, let me get right to the point," Berdin said as he sat down, " I am not here to argue, or put up a fight, me and my men are quite anxious to join you."  
  
Thrawn looked up, surprised was the only description for the face he made.  
  
"So willing to let go of your command?" Thrawn asked. "It's not that simple, we were commanded by a General Vikeen only 2 months ago, but his ship was attacked and he was killed." Berdin explained. "The New Republic did it, and ever since then we have been randomly attacking their boarder fleets. The Fleet you encountered was chased away by us, they fled to this planet because it was uncharted, in fact it was uncharted to us as well, we were very suppressed to find them still here, but then realized you had kept them here with your interdictor cruiser."  
  
"That is most interesting." Thrawn said. " If you wish to join us, you must understand I run things differently than a General, and I do not tolerate defiance."  
  
"Completely expected sir." Berdin said " I have been a Captain for 10 years now, and I am not in it for myself, I'm here for the glory of the Empire."  
  
They enjoyed the rest of their meal and told stories of their adventures in the past 3 years since the Battle Of Endor. They got to know Berdin very well, and were glad to have him and his fleet with them.  
  
Thrawn's fleet was growing and they would be able to handle Veer's Very easily, but first they needed to find him. 


	11. Chapter 11

Over the next few months the Chimaera made visits to other known Imperial Commanders, some would join, the others would fall quickly to the surprise attacks Thrawn designed for them. However, they were still unable to find Veers, or anyone who knew where he was hiding. Thrawn's new Imperial fleet was now in control of a good portion of the galaxy. Planets were falling into submission rather easily, and the Imperials had control over most of the Farfin, Dolomar, and Glyth sectors. The New Republic was mostly out of Thrawns way, keeping their business on the other side of the galactic core, and it was rather easy to regain control over worlds the Empire once occupied, and the New Republic had overlooked.  
  
On the bridge of the Chimaera in orbit over Arkania.  
  
"The Assault shuttles report they are ready sir." Lieutenant Collins said.  
  
"Begin the attack." Thrawn said, sitting ever so quietly in his command chair.  
  
"This will be an easy attack, and yet another world for the Empire." Pellaeon said. "The reports from the Death's Head Attack on Elrood have come in. They report a victory, with no losses, and the Orbital Shipyards have been captured intact, and in working oder."  
  
"Excellent, what word from our spies, have they found any clues as to Veer's whereabouts?" Thrawn asked, an annoyed sound in his voice.  
  
"No sir." Pellaeon answered.  
  
"Perhaps it is time we sent our Noghri friends on their first mission." Thrawn said, standing up from his chair. "Collins, inform me when we have achieved victory, have the Conquest and the Hydra blockade this planet and capture any incoming vessels. When the ground troops have taken control of the planet, I want anyone with ties to the New Republic arrested and sent to the Hydra for interrogation. You have the bridge Lieutenant, Captain, follow me."  
  
Thrawn walked off of the bridge, and Pellaeon followed behind him. Thrawns attitude has grown more bitter as the hunt for Veers goes on. They reached Thrawns chamber and entered.  
  
"Rukh, leave us." Thrawn said into the darkness.  
  
Pellaeon caught a glimpse of a figure moving in the darkness, and then a siloet of the figure when he left the room, the door closing behind him.  
  
"Sir, what mission do you have for the Noghri?" Pellaeon asked.  
  
"I want them to spy for us on the New Republic." Thrawn said, staring out the window at Arkania. "Is that wise? The New Republic does not know of your existence, and that is an advantage." Pellaeon explained.  
  
"Yes I know that Captain, but sooner or later they will discover who is commanding the Imperial Fleets so orderly. And they will definitely notice the change so suddenly." Thrawn said. "I've been making my plans for the destruction of the Rebellion, I will attack the very heart of their fleet, and I will capture their shipyards!"  
  
"A good plan, but other Imperial commanders have attempted it before, and the New Republic has very high defenses." Pellaeon said.  
  
"Yes, but I will distract them, they will not see it coming." Thrawn said, now looking at his display panel. "It is of no matter, these plans lay down the road some. As for my mission for the Noghri, I want them to land on Coruscant and see if the Rebels have any idea on where Veer's might be."  
  
"Coruscant! How can they get on that planet?" Pellaeon asked.  
  
"Easy, the Rebels have no clue who the Noghri are, and they do not appear hostile when dressed apropietly." Thrawn explained.  
  
The comm. Came on and the voice of Lieutenant Collins came over the speaker.  
  
"Our ground forces have taken control of the militant forces, the planet is secure." Collins said. As the intercom turned off, Pellaeon looked at the display on the wall.  
  
"Another victory, easily achieved." Pellaeon said, priding his men on a success.  
  
"Go to the bridge, and once the system is secure, set course for Honoghr. You are dismissed." Thrawn said.  
  
As Pellaeon exited the room, Rukh went back in. Pellaeon was in high doubt that the Noghri would be able to infiltrate Coruscant. And in addition t that, be able to spy on the New Republic without being noticed. It was an overconfidence Thrawn had, but Thrawn has not made a mistake yet, and the Empire was once again growing. 


End file.
